Robert Brokamp
speaker
4,580 appearances
41 recordings
3 series
first heard Oct 2025
last heard yesterday
Robert Brokamp’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 41 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 5.
Appearances
The key takeaway here is that the more you earn, the more you may need to save because less of your pre-retirement income will be replaced by Social Security.
All right, let's turn to the primary insurance amount.
That is what you will receive from Social Security if you claim at your full retirement age, which depends on the year you were born.
For each month before your full retirement age that you claim Social Security, your benefit will be reduced.
For each month you delay, your benefit gets bigger up to age 70.
All told, for someone who was born in nineteen sixty or later and thus has a full retirement age of sixty-seven, claiming at age sixty two permanently reduces the benefit by up to thirty percent, whereas waiting until age seventy increases it by about twenty four percent.
Keep in mind that the primary insurance amount doesn't just determine your benefit.
It can also be used to determine the benefits of family members who will be claiming benefits on your earnings record.
And reductions in your benefit due to claiming earlier can also have an impact on family related benefits, including spousal benefits, survivor benefits, and the family maximum limit.
So when it comes to evaluating when you should claim benefits, don't only think about how it'll affect the amount you receive.
Consider the impact it may have on your family members.
Now a little detour here.
Every year, Social Security benefits receive a cost of living adjustment, also known as the Cola.
based on the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, otherwise known as the CPIW, and it's based on that CPIW for July, August, and September.
Given that we're now in that time of year, you'll likely see more headlines with projections about the 2027 COBA.
So, this is a good time to remind everyone that the cola doesn't just benefit those who have already claimed.
The Social Security Administration also adjusts the benefit formula for people who are eligible, so generally age 62 or older, but haven't claimed yet.
So their eventual benefit reflects those annual inflation adjustments.
In other words, you don't need to claim early to lock in a cola.
Your benefit keeps getting inflation adjustments every year you wait on top of the
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